Mahayuti's Khatakhat Continues – Maharashtra To Give 3 Free Gas Cylinders Every Year To CM Ladki Bahin Scheme Beneficiaries

The Mahayuti-led state government of Maharashtra on Tuesday (July 30) issued the notification for implementing the Mukhyamantri Annapoorna Yojana.

The scheme, announced in the recent state budget for FY 24-25, entails three gas cylinder refills free of cost to Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Scheme beneficiaries as well as those households who benefit from the Union Government’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme.

This comes as a part of several welfare schemes launched by the state government ahead of the state assembly polls expected in two months from now in October, 2024.

As per the provision in this scheme, a sum of Rs 830 – which is the cost of one gas cylinder weighing 14.2 kilogram – will be directly credited to the accounts of all women in the state who are covered under the recently launched Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana. The amount will be disbursed by the state government three times in a year.

The latter, which is also a women centric scheme, involves a monthly monetary aid of Rs 1,500 to all women belonging to households with an aggregate yearly income less than Rs 2.5 lakh.

Beneficiaries of the Pradhanmantri Ujjwala Yojana – availed by one female per below poverty line (BPL) household – who receive a subsidy of Rs 300 per month towards cylinder purchase from the Union Government, will now also receive a sum of Rs 530 three times in a year from the state government.

As per reports, the state government’s Mukhyamantri Annapoorna Yojana was initially meant only for the 52.16 lakh beneficiaries in the state covered under the Union Government’s Ujjwala scheme.

However, the decision to include Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin beneficiaries as well was reportedly taken after a few Cabinet Ministers in the state government opined that including the beneficiaries of Union Government’s Ujjwala scheme alone might not highlight the state government’s commitment to welfare of the poor or alternately, benefit the ruling coalition in the upcoming polls.

To prevent people from availing double benefit from both schemes at the same time, only one female beneficiary per household will receive the subsidy depending upon the scheme under which she has been covered.

As a result of including beneficiaries from both- the state's Ladki Bahin scheme as well as the Union Government Ujjwala scheme, the total number of beneficiaries of the free gas cylinder scheme in the state is expected to reach the figure of one crore.